The Characteristics Of Globalization In The Pre-Time Period

According to Manfred Steger globalization is a long-term uneven process that intensifies social relations and consciousness across world time and world space. In his book, Globalization: A Very Short Introduction he discusses that globalization is not a set of social processes that only occurred in the contemporary period, when the term was coined, but rather it is part of a much older process of development and expansion that he categorizes it into five time periods: the prehistoric, pre-modern, the early modern, the modern and contemporary periods. It is in the pre-modern period that one begins to inequality become a more distinctive characteristic in global society. This paper will historically analyze how globalization has occurred and changed within each time period, respectively, and at the same time it will highlight the characteristics of globalization that created new forms of inequality and hierarchy.

The agrarian society was mostly dependent on agriculture, which intensified and created food surpluses that allowed for the establishment and emergence of cities. Cities, in a way, catalyzed stratification between rural villages and cities. As time went on, cities and villages were not the only things being stratified in society, for example, women’s prominence declined and private ownership of land was occurring more often. Land becomes more valuable and the protection of land becomes more profound an emergence of empires is seen in this moment.
With the introduction of new technological inventions in this period, such as the wheel and the written word, globalization is able to strengthen and the economical and cultural aspects of